Isn't it the worst when after you've sent off a perfectly amazing promotional email that you receive nothing but bounce backs and messages about bad emails?
All of that time wasted, for what? Nothing.
So, here are 10 ways to not only ensure that your emails are delivered every single time but also please your customers at the same time.
1. Spring clean your subscriber list
Bad email addresses immediately destroy your deliverability rate, so clean out your list of those, along with bounces, after each email campaign is sent.
2. Scrub your list daily of unsubscribes
Though sad, unsubscribes are a natural part of email marketing. To ensure that you're not accidentally sending emails to those people who don't want to hear from you anymore and garner more frustration, update your email list daily of unsubscribes. You never know when they'll come in.
3. Ask to be whitelisted
An easy way to ensure that your email reaches the right inbox is to ask your subscribers to add you to their address box or, at least, add you to the "known" list of emails.
4. Avoid spam trigger words
Spam filters are ruthless and unstoppable. To avoid your emails from getting caught up in the flurry, never use trigger words like sale, discount, free or opportunity. But, if you must use a spam trigger word – like sale – use it sparingly.
5. Offer web or HTML views of your emails
Things happen, and sometimes your emails may not come through to your subscribers' emails as you'd like. So, by offering different ways for your subscribers to view your emails, you're not only ensuring that you message comes through loud and clear, but also it signals to spam filters that you're serious and not tricky.
6. Always use a double opt-in
A double opt-in method makes sure that you receive 100% permission to send emails to your subscribers. Further, it provides an opportunity to your subscribers to ensure that they do want to hear from you. Usually, in this process, an autoresponder email is sent, asking prospective subscribers to confirm their choice and to add your email to their address book.
7. Avoid overzealous punctuation and capitalization
Want to attract the attention of a spam filter? Use excessive !!!, overzealous capitalization or other crazy punctuation. This SCREAMS!!!! amateur and sly, and your email automatically be sent to the bad email place.
8. Personalize
If your email includes "Dear," addressing your subscribers, you must personalize it with their names. This practice reinforces your relationship with your customers.
9. Test your emails in all public email programs
First, sort through your email subscriber list by email and see what are the top used email programs. Chances are you'll spot Gmail and Hotmail, among others free programs. Set up dummy accounts with these programs and send out test emails to see how your email passes the filter tests.
10. Always include email preferences and an unsubscribe option
Spam emails never include options for recipients to unsubscribe or update their email preferences. Why? Well, most people never agreed to receive them in the first place. So, do your email campaign a favor and always include both!
